Flesh-footed Shearwater

The flesh-footed shearwater (Ardenna carneipes) is a medium-large shearwater that mainly inhabits the Indo-Pacific. Its plumage is black with pale pinkish feet, and a pale bill with a distinct black tip. Together with the equally light-billed pink-footed shearwater, it forms the Hemipuffinus group, a superspecies which may or may not have an Atlantic relative in the great shearwater. These large shearwaters are among those that have been separated into the genus Ardenna. Recent genetic analysis indicates evidence of strong divergence between Pacific colonies relative to those in South and Western Australia, thought to be explained by philopatry and differences in foraging strategies during the breeding season. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2021 found very little genetic difference between the flesh-footed shearwater and the pink-footed shearwater (Ardenna creatopus). The authors of the study suggested that these two taxa might be better considered as conspecific. The flesh-footed shearwater breeds in colonies, and has two main breeding areas; one in the southwest Pacific Ocean includes Lord Howe Island (22,654 pairs ), South Australia (about 1,800 pairs breeding on two islands) and northern New Zealand (13,000 pairs); the other population comprises no more than 36,000 pairs breeding on 42 islands along the coast…